Rachaad White — Week 1: Seven Carries, All Before Halftime
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 14
White carried seven times for twenty-two yards, all of them before halftime and four of them on third down, and caught both his targets for five yards after it. His third-and-one run from the Washington thirty-one in the first quarter went for no gain and was the costliest carry any Commander had by expected points, in a 22–24 loss to the Eagles.
When Rachaad White's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
The full episode, in writing
Third and one at the Washington 31, three 31 left in the first quarter, Washington up three to nothing. Rachaad White up the middle, no gain, and Washington punted. That carry was worth −1.6 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and cost 4.2 points of win probability, the chance of winning after the play against before it, the worst figure on either count for any of the 32 Washington carries all day.
The line: seven carries, 22 yards, no touchdown, one first down, three of the seven successful, −2.8 expected points, longest nine. Four carries in the first quarter for seven yards, three in the second for 15, none after halftime. Four of the seven came on third down. Third and 10 at the Philadelphia 40 with 12 oh eight left in the first, up the middle for three, and Washington kicked the field goal. The third and one that went nowhere. Third and 27 from the Washington 10 with nine 33 left in the half, up the middle for nine, then a punt. And third and one at the Philadelphia 19 with two 51 left in the half, right guard for two and the first down, +0.6, his best carry — on the drive Jacory Croskey-Merritt finished from the one. The catching was two targets, two catches, five yards, both after halftime: three yards short right on third and seven from the Washington 44 with 12 oh one left in the third, four short of the marker, and two yards short right on second and eight from the Philadelphia 12 with 10 48 left in the fourth, the snap before Stefon Diggs's touchdown.
The split: Croskey-Merritt 16, White seven, Jayden Daniels five — three of them scrambles — Kaytron Allen four. Before halftime the 16 designed runs were Croskey-Merritt eight, White seven and Daniels one; after halftime the 13 were Croskey-Merritt eight, Allen four and Daniels one, and White had none. In targets he was tied with Dyami Brown at two, behind Diggs's nine, four each for Antonio Williams and Terry McLaurin, and three each for Chig Okonkwo and John Bates. Washington threw 16 pass plays before the half and 19 after; the second-half throws to a running back were both his, and both came up short of the sticks.
Back in June the preview called White a lean, overpriced by a little — RB38 at pick one 11 for a one-year, two-million-dollar veteran complement to Croskey-Merritt, with a year-five aging fade against him and 40 catches a year as the one skill that survives it — and it said to watch who took the passing-down snaps. Sunday the passing-down work was two targets for five yards, and the carries stopped at halftime while the rookie Allen took the fourth-quarter handoffs. One game is a thin sample on a role the preview already called spot-starter, and it was a thin game. Washington is at the Cowboys on Sunday the twentieth.
_Data via nflverse._
When Rachaad White's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
Keep going